.svg)
NEW YORK, NY — The City of Jerusalem has given its highest honor, the Yakir Yerushalayim (Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem) award, to cardiologist Haim Lotan, MD, and obstetrician-gynecologist Nili Yanai, MD, of the Hadassah Medical Organization, the Jerusalem-based hospital system of Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America.
The 12 recipients of the 2026 award, which will be presented during a ceremony on Jerusalem Day (May 15, 2026), were selected by a public committee chaired by retired Judge David Cheshin, Jerusalem District Court President.
In its citation, the award committee paid tribute to Dr. Lotan “for his contribution to the advancement of cardiology in Jerusalem, for introducing advanced and groundbreaking technologies in the field of catheterization and for leading international conferences that [have] placed Jerusalem at the center of the global medical-innovation map.” Dr. Lotan has served as director of the Hadassah Heart Institute and president of the Israeli Heart Society, among many other positions.
Dr. Yanai was lauded by the award committee for “her contributions [as a] medical pioneer … [and] her exemplary work [as a practitioner of] professional, humane and community[-focused] medicine.” Dr. Yanai played a key role in Israel’s first in-utero cardiac catheterization, a complex procedure carried out to treat a severe fetal heart defect. She has made many contributions to the medical literature, including a seminal article on pre-natal diagnosis.
The 2026 winners “exemplify the human, moral and professional mosaic of Jerusalem,” said Mayor Moshe Leon. “Their many years of work – in the fields of health, education, culture, science, infrastructure, sports and social activity – are a living testimony to their love for Jerusalem and their deep commitment to its residents.”
Yoram Weiss, MD, chief executive of Hadassah’s hospital system, concurred. “This honor recognizes the ongoing contributions made by the Hadassah Medical Organization to the well-being of Jerusalem’s residents,” adding, “From the city’s earliest days, Hadassah hospitals helped to lay the foundation for Jerusalem’s medical infrastructure, to establish clinical standards and to set the benchmarks by which medical education should be judged,” referring to the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical School.
“When Henrietta Szold founded Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, in 1913, she understood that any future Israeli state would need a strong healthcare system – and she began to build it,” said Carol Ann Schwartz, Hadassah’s National President. “In honoring Haim Lotan and Nili Yanai, the Yakir Yerushalayim committee recognizes Hadassah’s role in creating the system Miss Szold not only envisioned but also played a critical role in shaping more than a century ago.”
This is not the first time that physicians from the Hadassah Medical Organization have received the Yakir Yerushalayim award. Other Hadassah recipients include trauma expert Avraham Rivkind in 2018, oncologist Tamar Peretz in 2005 and dermatologist Jacob Sheskin, who made the groundbreaking discovery that thalidomide can treat leprosy, in 1997.
In addition to Hadassah Medical Organization cardiologist Haim Lotan, MD, and obstetrician-gynecologist Nili Yanai, MD, the 2026 recipients of the Yakir Yerushalayim award are developer Eliyahu Aboud Levy; urban planner Abraham Barderian; infrastructure designer Yaakov Efrati; journalist, sports broadcaster and athlete Moshe Gretel; healthcare leader Ben Zion (Richard) Hochstein; biochemist and pharmacologist Miriam Kidron, PhD; attorney and civic leader Elias (Daoud) Khoury; educator Sarah Munderer; cultural figure Simcha Siani; and women’s and public health champion and medical entrepreneur David Zacut, MD.
Since 1967, the annual Yakir Yerushalayim award has been given to Jerusalem residents over the age of 65 who have made outstanding and lasting contributions to the fields of culture, development and infrastructure, education, health, public service, religion and heritage, science, sports and social and community activity.
# # #
About the Hadassah Medical Organization:
For more than a century, the Hadassah Medical Organization, the Jerusalem-based hospital system of Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, has set the standard for excellence in medical treatment and research in Israel. The experience and ingenuity of Hadassah’s doctors and scientists have led to new tools and treatments in all areas of medicine, including therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices. Visit hadassah.org/how-we-help/our-hospitals.